Status Updates From On the Border with Crook

I am making progress on this.. just recently they fought a cave full of natives who had raided and killed innocent people.. very dangerous situation for the people inside the cave.

Crook was very indefatigable. He never got annoyed or distressed. He treated everyone the same no matter their race or color. He made it his life mission to learn the pack train (mules) and he insisted on knowing daily about each animal. He told the truth to everyone and expected that in return. He refused to make promises he couldn't keep. He let the past go and his goal was to stop the war with Natives.

So George Crook has been in here for awhile now and seems like a very honest man. He doesn't smoke or drink coffee / tea or alcohol and he doesn't say any bad words either. He was quite the rare man.

This book is getting so interesting! I keep reading in here that people had to get their leg amputated if they got shot. So I asked Google why. And it was because of the soft lead Minie ball bullets that smashed bones and did massive damage to blood vessels and nerves. They were hollow bullets. Also lots of info about Tuscan in here too.

So I just read about the "devil's darning needle" and how this "tarantula hawk" attacks the gray tarantula - except it's actually a wasp! The paragraph didn't mention wasps at all. I guess it was common knowledge back when this was written. I am really going to try and finish this book over the weekend.

This is very readable. The author is recounting his many adventures while serving in the calvary. There are Indian attacks as well as explanations of how they dealt with days of boredom while living at the fort (ants were one form of entertainment).

Lots of great descriptions in here, both of the land (plants + animals included) and of the bronco training. Also of the quarters the author was staying in. I learned a new word: kalsomining. Which means whitewashing. So far this book is off to a great start!

Back when I had read that book about mules in the US Army, this book had been mentioned. And I had wanted to read it because Crook had been the man who had taken good care of the mules under his command. And so I am going to read this. And tomorrow is ranch day! I will go see my horses!

Escutcheon = a shield or emblem bearing a coat of arms.

Gainsaid = deny or contradict (a fact or statement).

Corduroy road = a road made of tree trunks laid across a swamp.

Parfleche = a hide, especially a buffalo's hide, with the hair removed, dried by being stretched on a frame in a manner traditional among some North American Indian peoples.

Gore = blood that has been shed, especially as a result of violence.

Agate = an ornamental stone consisting of a hard variety of chalcedony (quartz), typically banded in appearance.

Celerity = swiftness of movement.

Affability = prívetivosť

Gunny sack = A burlap sack or gunny sack, also known as a gunny shoe, hessian sack or tow sack, is a bag, traditionally made of fibres which are also known as "tow," such as hessian fabric formed from jute, hemp or other natural fibres. Modern-day versions of these sacks are often made from synthetic fabrics such as polypropylene.

Box elder (javor jasanolisty) = an American maple with leaves that resemble those of the elder and green or purplish twigs.

Angler = a person who fishes with a rod and line.

Caterwauling = make a shrill howling or wailing noise like that of a cat.

Temerity = excessive confidence or boldness; audacity.

Pickerel = a young pike.

Terrapin = a small edible turtle with lozenge-shaped markings on its shell, found in coastal marshes of the eastern US.

Marauder = one who roams from place to place making attacks and raids in search of plunder

Phthisic = of, relating to, or affected with or as if with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Marauds = raid and plunder (a place).

Torpid = mentally or physically inactive; lethargic.

Repine = feel or express discontent; fret.